Whispering Smith Column published in the Littlehampton Gazette July9th.2015

SITTING outside of the Putting Green Café, drinking a more than decent cup of coffee, the sky is black and laced with lightening, it passes and in a very short while the sun is warming me and the sky is a seaside blue. Looking across the crazy golf with its palm trees, the smell of the salt and freshly cut grass of the pitch and putt course it is hard to think of any place better to be on a summer’s afternoon. To be without the lovely open space that borders our promenade is unthinkable, it is Littlehampton and it is little wonder that so many people want a piece of it and therein lies the problem, you build houses on those open spaces and the whole environment will change. The very things that attracted people to our town will be destroyed and the people that will live in those houses will only have the memory of that which drew them here. We must not let that happen. Love Littlehampton.

PLENTY going over the next few weekends following the excellent Saturday Artisan’s fair in the High street interesting and fun although I could have done without the big green lizard it gave me goose bumps, poked its tongue out at me and gave me a weird look. The fund raising Blake Project have a poetry reading evening of the 18th from 4.30 to 6.30, tickets £8.00 available on the door, with readings by among others Richard Skinner, Nuala Casey and Martin Malone. The event is at St. Mary’s Church in Felpham it may be a bit out of our bailiwick but on the last such enjoyable function I attended there I met a lot of folk from Littlehampton. This Saturday we have the town carnival then, from the 18th to 25th, the highly anticipated Arts Festival details available from LOCA on their Facebook page and not forgetting the Festival in the Park on Caffyn’s Fields also on July 18th. arts and crafts, food, workshops and, of course loads of Live music. Love Littlehampton.

SO Councillor Mike Northeast being the only labour councillor on Arun will not have a say on any of the committees, uhmm, were I a conspiracy theorist, which of course I am not, I might surmise that Arun would like to side-line anyone who actually knows about and speaks for the Littlehampton electorate. Love Littlehampton.